andrew cuomo

With the public referendum on casino gaming just weeks away, new polls indicating New York voters are keen on building more state-run casinos are being questioned by anti-gambling groups.

Don't Text and Drive - New York Governor Andrew Cuomo was underlining that mandate in an appearance this morning at a Thruway rest area, as Thruway authorities plan to ramp up penalties for distracted driving.

Despite a beefed-up public awareness campaign and new laws combating distracted driving, New York State Troopers issued 21,500 tickets issued over the summer, compared to 5,000 last year.

A group of top New York and federal prosecutors is scheduled to testify at the first public hearing of the state's new anti-corruption commission.

The session in New York City this evening is the first of several planned to consider if additional laws and regulations are needed to address misconduct by public officials.

Confirmed speakers include U.S. attorneys Preet Bharara and Loretta Lynch and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr.

It’s been nearly a year since the administration of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that the state health commissioner would conduct a review to determine whether hydrofracking could be done safely in New York. Since then, little information has been released on the on going study. Now, an anti-fracking group is suing the state to find out what exactly is being reviewed.

A former aide to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is working on an underdog campaign against the mayor of Syracuse in this week's Democratic primary.

The primary will decide whether Mayor Stephanie Miner survives her frosty year with Cuomo. She has criticized his pension-saving proposal.

Cuomo has refused to make an endorsement in the race. But records show a former Cuomo aide, Joseph Rossi, is working for the campaign of Miner's opponent Pat Hogan.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo says law enforcement officials don't get to pick and choose which laws to enforce — and that includes the sheriffs opposed to new gun restrictions.

Talking to reporters Wednesday, Cuomo says law enforcement's job is to enforce all the laws, which are enacted by the Legislature.

He says that to do otherwise "would obviously be chaos" and "a dangerous and frightening precedent."

The mayor of a central New York city devastated by June's upstate flooding plans to issue a third emergency declaration.

The Oneida Daily Dispatch reports that acting Mayor Max Smith plans to take the action at today’s Common Council meeting because of continuing repair costs.

The cost of repairs to the city's waste water treatment plant is estimated at $1.5 million, and bills continue to come in from contractors hired for those repairs.

State officials say 6,000 high school students from across New York will be able to earn an associate degree at no cost under a program designed to land them jobs when they graduate.

Governor  Andrew Cuomo says  that 16 high schools have been selected to be part of public-private partnerships designed to prepare students for high-skill jobs in technology, manufacturing and health care. The students will earn both an associate degree and a high school degree under the state's Pathways in Technology Early College High School program, or P-Tech.

Today,  marking  the 48th anniversary of President Lyndon Johnson’s signing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Governor Andrew Cuomo reminds New Yorkers that the deadline to register to vote in the upcoming September primary elections is August 16th.

The Governor also released new data showing that more than 200,000 New Yorkers have used the state’s  online service MyDMV, and other automated systems to register, or update, their voter registration.

The directors of county and city veteran service agencies in New York will have to get federal accreditation within three years under a new law.

The measure signed last week by Gov. Andrew Cuomo says those directors, who are appointed by county executives and mayors, will have to take all necessary steps to be accredited as a veterans' service organization representative.

That gives them authority from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to help veterans and their families pursue benefit claims.

Governor Cuomo recently announced that he would close several more state prisons, using provisions of a law that allows him to bypass the legislature.  It’s part of a pattern of government consolidation that the governor has been quietly pursuing since he took office.

KINGSTON – As the clock keeps ticking, the likelihood of the governor calling a special session of the legislature diminishes and that means any hope of passing legislation to allow Ulster County to keep its sales tax at its current level fades.

Assemblyman Kevin Cahill said if it does not make it before lawmakers this fall, it will come up early next year. But, county officials say they need the one percent sales tax exemption ASAP or the county will lose about $5 million in revenue.

New York Governor Cuomo says it’s now up to the voters to decide whether they want to expand gambling in New York State. He’s signed into law a plan build casinos upstate, but the public must approve a change in the state’s constitution in order for it to move forward.  

ALBANY – Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the legislation on Tuesday that will now put the issue of legalizing casino gaming before voters in November.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has signed a new law meant to keep more drunken drivers off New York roads.

The new law makes it a felony to drive drunk on a conditional license.

Motorists who lose their license for drunken driving may be issued a conditional license, limited to essential trips like work, school and medical appointments.

While driving drunk on a revoked license was already a felony, doing it on a conditional license has been only a traffic infraction.

Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

Could New York Governor Andrew Cuomo be thinking about a 2016 White House run? Speculation is on the rise following a television interview that aired this morning.

The Cuomo administration has been quiet about the upcoming presidential campaign.  CBS News correspondent Jan Crawford spoke with the governor in the Adirondacks over the weekend, where Cuomo reaffirmed he has no interest in a run for the White House, explaining he is focused on "being the best governor that I can be.”

Two of New York's top officials are making waves in the Adirondacks.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg will paddle down the Indian River in a whitewater rafting race at noon today on the second day of Cuomo's inaugural Adirondack Challenge festival in Indian Lake.

New Yorkers are being asked to reduce electricity use as this week's heat wave is driving near record demand for power.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo says people should cut back as much as possible to take pressure off the state's power grid and help prevent outages or brownouts.

He says Thursday that experts monitoring the grid expect demand to hit record levels.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo says the federal government has denied some aid to victims of recent severe flooding in the Mohawk Valley, but the state will step in to help.

The Individual Assistance program helps victims recover and rebuild. It is in addition to federal aid that goes to governments to rebuild roads and for other major recovery projects.

Cuomo said last week that if the Federal Emergency Management Agency didn't come through, he'd call the Legislature back into session to free up state money.

The waiting list for federal funds to help homeowners and businesses rebuild in the wake of flooding across Central New York and the Mohawk Valley is growing.

The flash flooding brought on by the heavy rains of June 27 and 28 devastated many communities across Central New York. Residents in many flooded communities along the Mohawk River are waiting for help - looking to Albany and Washington for assistance in cleanup and rebuilding.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo says he'll call the state Legislature back to address recent upstate New York flooding if the federal government declines to issue a disaster declaration.

Cuomo issued an emergency declaration a week ago for 15 counties, followed by requesting a federal disaster declaration that would provide money for rebuilding.

He says owners of about 150 homes with significant damage need help, local governments need money for rebuilding roads and culverts and he's pushing for Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster funds.

This morning at the New York State Capitol, Governor Andrew Cuomo made good on his promise to establish a powerful investigative body to examine the state Board of Elections and potential wrongdoing by legislators in campaign fundraising.

Unable to sway legislators to agree on a package of campaign finance and legislative ethics reforms before the end of session last month, Governor Cuomo made it clear he intended to tackle public corruption in a year that has already seen several sitting state legislators indicted on federal corruption charges.

New York Governor Cuomo did not get all he wanted during the recently concluded legislative session, as abortion rights and campaign finance reform faltered in the final days of the session. But Cuomo seems to be putting the best face on what he did achieve and is trying to move on with plans that include an investigation of the legislature.

Governor Cuomo says he will be announcing his Moreland Act commission to investigate the campaign donation filings of the legislature in the “immediate future”, possibly as early as Thursday.

Cuomo failed to get lawmakers to agree on a package of campaign finance reforms,  and says he will now appoint a commission under the powers’ of the state’s Moreland Act, to investigate campaign filings at the State Board of Elections. The governor say in the end, it might even work out better.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is visiting three upstate college campuses to discuss the tax-free zones that were approved by the state Legislature last week.

In May, the governor unveiled his plan to give new employers and their employees 10 years of tax-free living if they locate on or near college campuses in New York state. Last Wednesday, the Cuomo administration changed the plan's name from Tax-Free New York to Start-Up New York.

The Legislature approved the plan on Friday as it wrapped up its 2013 session.

Environmental groups in New York say a new law requiring manufacturers to collect and safely dispose of thermostats will remove a major source of toxic mercury from the waste stream. 

The legislation, which awaits Gov. Andrew Cuomo's signature, was passed late Friday night by the Senate and Assembly. The New York Public Interest Research Group says it addresses one of the largest remaining sources of mercury pollution in New York — the hundreds of thousands of old thermostats discarded each year.

New York's Democrat-led Assembly has approved bills including an abortion rights provision that has roiled Albany.

But Senate Republicans refused to allow the abortion measure to the floor in that chamber.

The Senate plans to adopt the nine other women's rights initiatives in the 10-point package pushed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

The nine items combat discrimination against women in the workplace and strengthen human trafficking laws.

Those could be sent back to the Assembly today after Senate passage and voted into law.

As New York's Legislature prepares to pass into law late-session deals with Governor Andrew Cuomo, two of the biggest measures are being questioned.

Cuomo said Wednesday he'll create a panel under the state's powerful Moreland Act to investigate lawmakers because of the latest string of corruption cases.

But academic and former Assemblyman Richard Brodsky says Thursday the law doesn't allow the executive branch to directly investigate another branch.

Cuomo says he can avoid that prohibition by investigating through the Board of Elections.